178-402: Yukio Mishima ( 三島 由紀夫 , Mishima Yukio ) , born Kimitake Hiraoka ( 平岡 公威 , Hiraoka Kimitake , 14 January 1925 – 25 November 1970) , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist , ultra-nationalist , and leader of an attempted coup d'état which culminated in his suicide . Mishima is considered one of the most important postwar stylists of
356-481: A shaku . This regalia is generally more ornate than the sombre garments worn by Japanese Buddhist monks. The chief priest at a shrine is the gūji . Larger shrines may also have an assistant head priest, the gon-gūji . As with teachers, instructors, and Buddhist clergy, Shinto priests are often referred to as sensei by lay practitioners. Historically, there were female priests although they were largely pushed out of their positions in 1868. During
534-410: A temizuya . Another form of purification at the start of a Shinto rite entails waving a white paper streamer or wand known as the haraigushi . When not in use, the haraigushi is usually kept in a stand. The priest waves the haraigushi horizontally over a person or object being purified in a movement known as sa-yu-sa ("left-right-left"). Sometimes, instead of a haraigushi ,
712-399: A kami can be enshrined. In some periods, fees were charged for the right to enshrine a particular kami in a new place. Shrines are not necessarily always designed as permanent structures. Many kami have messengers, known as kami no tsukai or tsuka washime , that generally take animal forms. Inari's messenger, for example, is a fox ( kitsune ), while Hachiman's is
890-412: A kami who already has one is called bunrei ("dividing the spirit"). As part of this, the kami is invited to enter a new place, with the instalment ceremony known as a kanjo . The new, subsidiary shrine is known as a bunsha . Individual kami are not believed to have their power diminished by their residence in multiple locations, and there is no limit on the number of places
1068-548: A double-suicide with a miko (shrine maiden) who falls in love with him. Mishima wrote the story in an elegant style drawing upon medieval Japanese literature and the Ryōjin Hishō , a collection of medieval imayō songs. This elevated writing style and the homosexual motif suggest the germ of Mishima's later aesthetics. Later in 1948 Kawabata, who praised this work, published an autobiographical work Boy ( 少年 , Shōnen ) describing his experience of falling in love for
1246-699: A nature religion . Scholars sometimes call its practitioners Shintoists , although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is no central authority in control of Shinto, with much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners. A polytheistic and animistic religion, Shinto revolves around supernatural entities called the kami (神). The kami are believed to inhabit all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The kami are worshipped at kamidana household shrines, family shrines, and jinja public shrines . The latter are staffed by priests, known as kannushi , who oversee offerings of food and drink to
1424-517: A world religion , while the historian H. Byron Earhart called it a "major religion". Shinto is also often described as an indigenous religion , although this generates debates over the different definitions of "indigenous" in the Japanese context. The notion of Shinto as Japan's "indigenous religion" stemmed from the growth of modern nationalism between the Edo and Meiji periods; this view promoted
1602-426: A "first class" rating on his conscription examination (reserved only for the most physically fit recruits), in combination with the illness which led him to be erroneously declared unfit for duty, contributed to an inferiority complex over his frail constitution that later led to his obsession with physical fitness and bodybuilding. Mishima had a cold during his medical check on convocation day (10 February 1945), which
1780-530: A Korean spy. After shooting him, Hasuda turned his pistol on himself. Mishima learned of the incident a year later and contributed poetry in Hasuda's honor at a memorial service in November 1946. On 23 October 1945 (Showa 20), Mishima's beloved younger sister Mitsuko died suddenly at the age of 17 from typhoid fever after drinking untreated water. Around the same time, he also learned that Kuniko Mitani ( 三谷邦子 ) ,
1958-452: A U.S. Navy vessel docked at the port city to their festival celebrations given the sensitivities surrounding the 1945 U.S. use of the atomic bomb on the city . In other cases, priests have opposed construction projects on shrine-owned land; at Kaminoseki in the early 2000s, a priest was pressured to resign after opposing the sale of shrine lands to build a nuclear power plant . In the 21st century, Shinto has increasingly been portrayed as
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#17328023493472136-433: A boulder. Izanagi bathed in the sea to rid himself from the pollution brought about by witnessing Izanami's putrefaction. Through this act, further kami emerged from his body: Amaterasu (the sun kami ) was born from his left eye, Tsukuyomi (the moon kami ) from his right eye, and Susanoo (the storm kami ) from his nose. Susanoo behaved in a destructive manner, to escape him Amaterasu hid herself within
2314-586: A brother and sister, Izanagi and Izanami . The kami instructed Izanagi and Izanami to create land on earth. To this end, the siblings stirred the briny sea with a jewelled spear, from which Onogoro Island was formed. Izanagi and Izanami then descended to Earth, where the latter gave birth to further kami . One of these was a fire kami , whose birth killed Izanami. Izanagi descended to yomi to retrieve his sister, but there he saw her body putrefying. Embarrassed to be seen in this state, she chased him out of yomi , and he closed its entrance with
2492-781: A bureaucrat. To this end, he advised his son to enroll in the Faculty of Law instead of the literature department. Attending lectures during the day and writing at night, Mishima graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1947. He obtained a position in the Ministry of the Treasury and was set for a promising career as a government bureaucrat. However, after just one year of employment, Mishima had exhausted himself so much that his father agreed to allow him to resign from his post and devote himself to writing full time. In 1945, Mishima began
2670-482: A cave, plunging the earth into darkness. The other kami eventually succeeded in coaxing her out. Susanoo was then banished to earth, where he married and had children. According to the Kojiki , Amaterasu then sent her grandson, Ninigi , to rule Japan, giving him curved beads, a mirror, and a sword: the symbols of Japanese imperial authority. Amaterasu remains probably Japan's most venerated kami . In Shinto,
2848-427: A classmate's sister whom he had hoped to marry, was engaged to another man. Mishima used these events as inspiration and motivation for his later literary work. At the end of the war, his father Azusa "half-allowed" Mishima to become a novelist. He was worried that his son would become a professional novelist, preferring instead that his son follow in the footsteps of himself and Mishima's grandfather Sadatarō and become
3026-644: A daughter named Noriko ( 紀子 ) (born 2 June 1959) and a son named Iichirō ( 威一郎 ) (born 2 May 1962). Noriko eventually married the diplomat Koji Tomita . While working on his novel Forbidden Colors , Mishima visited gay bars in Japan. Mishima's sexual orientation was an issue that bothered his wife, and she always denied his homosexuality after his death. In 1998, the writer Jirō Fukushima ( 福島次郎 ) published an account of his relationship with Mishima in 1951, including fifteen letters (not love letters) from Mishima. Mishima's children successfully sued Fukushima and
3204-511: A distinct religious tradition nor to anything uniquely Japanese; the 11th century Konjaku monogatarishui for instance refers to a woman in China practicing Shinto , and also to people in India worshipping kami , indicating these terms were being used to describe religions outside Japan itself. In medieval Japan, kami -worship was generally seen as being part of Japanese Buddhism , with
3382-424: A dove. Shinto cosmology also includes spirits who cause malevolent acts, bakemono , a category including oni , tengu , kappa , mononoke , and yamanba . Japanese folklore also incorporates belief in the goryō or onryō , unquiet or vengeful spirits, particularly of those who died violently and without appropriate funerary rites. These are believed to inflict suffering on
3560-556: A farewell message to his family, ending with the words "Long live the Emperor!" ( 天皇陛下万歳 , Tennō heika banzai ) , including hair and nail clippings as mementos for his parents. The unit that Mishima would have enlisted in was eventually sent to the Philippines , with few survivors. Mishima's parents were ecstatic that he did not have to go to war, but Mishima's mood was harder to read, and Mishima's mother overheard him express
3738-462: A festival or ritual. Various words, termed imi-kotoba , are also regarded as taboo, and people avoid speaking them when at a shrine; these include shi (death), byō (illness), and shishi (meat). A purification ceremony known as misogi involves the use of fresh water, salt water, or salt to remove kegare . Full immersion in the sea is often regarded as the most ancient and efficacious form of purification. This act links with
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#17328023493473916-414: A few minutes. Usually, a worshipper will approach the honden, placing a monetary offering in a box and then ringing a bell to call the kami 's attention. Then, they bow, clap, and stand while silently offering a prayer. The clapping is known as kashiwade or hakushu ; the prayers or supplications as kigan . This individual worship is known as hairei . More broadly, ritual prayers to
4094-438: A human spirit or soul, the mitama or tamashii , which contains four aspects. While indigenous ideas about an afterlife were probably well-developed prior to Buddhism's arrival, contemporary Japanese people often adopt Buddhist afterlife beliefs. Mythological stories like the Kojiki describe yomi or yomi-no-kuni as a realm of the dead, although this plays no role in modern Shinto. Modern Shinto ideas about
4272-479: A loincloth and armed with a sword, posing in the snow for one of Tamotsu Yatō's photoshoots. In the men's magazine Heibon Punch , to which Mishima had contributed various essays and criticisms, he won first place in the "Mr. Dandy" reader popularity poll in 1967 with 19,590 votes, beating second place Toshiro Mifune by 720 votes. In the next reader popularity poll, "Mr. International", Mishima ranked second behind French President Charles de Gaulle . At that time in
4450-454: A marriage partner. They generally do not live at the shrines. Sometimes they fill other roles, such as being secretaries in the shrine offices or clerks at the information desks, or as waitresses at the naorai feasts. They also assist kannushi in ceremonial rites. Visits to the shrine are termed sankei , or jinja mairi . Some individuals visit the shrines daily, often on their morning route to work; they typically take only
4628-540: A mask to fit into society. The novel was extremely successful and made Mishima a celebrity at the age of 24. In 1947, a brief encounter with Osamu Dazai , a popular novelist known for his suicidal themes, left a lasting impression on him. Around 1949, Mishima also published a literary essay about Kawabata, for whom he had always held a deep appreciation, in Modern Literature ( 近代文学 , Kindai Bungaku ) . Mishima enjoyed international travel. In 1952, he took
4806-479: A month, it was widely panned in broader literary circles, and was rapidly branded as Mishima's first "failed work". It was Mishima's first major setback as an author, and the book's disastrous reception came as a harsh psychological blow. Until 1960, Mishima had not written works that were seen as especially political. In the summer of 1960, Mishima became interested in the massive Anpo protests against an attempt by U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi to revise
4984-650: A nature-centred spirituality with environmentalist credentials; several shrines have collaborated with local environmentalist campaigns, while an international interfaith conference on environmental sustainability was held at the Ise shrine in 2014. Critical commentators have characterised the presentation of Shinto as an environmentalist movement as a rhetorical ploy rather than a concerted effort by Shinto institutions to become environmentally sustainable. Shinto focuses on ritual behavior rather than doctrine . The philosophers James W. Boyd and Ron G. Williams stated that Shinto
5162-461: A non- kan-on reading in a word where the kan-on reading is well known is a common cause of reading mistakes or difficulty, such as in ge-doku ( 解毒 , detoxification, anti-poison) ( go-on ), where 解 is usually instead read as kai . The go-on readings are especially common in Buddhist terminology such as gokuraku ( 極楽 , paradise) , as well as in some of the earliest loans, such as
5340-529: A pair, one with its mouth open, the other with its mouth closed. Shrines are often set within gardens or wooded groves called chinju no mori ("forest of the tutelary" kami ), which vary in size from just a few trees to sizeable areas of woodland. Large lanterns, known as tōrō , are often found within these precincts. Shrines often have an office, known as a shamusho , a saikan where priests undergo forms of abstinence and purification prior to conducting rituals, and other buildings such as
5518-487: A particular community is referred to it as their ujigami , while that of a particular house is the yashikigami . Kami are not deemed metaphysically different from humanity, with it being possible for humans to become kami . Dead humans are sometimes venerated as kami , being regarded as protector or ancestral figures. One of the most prominent examples is that of the Emperor Ōjin , who on his death
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5696-461: A period of abstinence from sexual relations. Some of those involved in festivals also abstain from a range of other things, such as consuming tea, coffee, or alcohol, immediately prior to the events. The priests are assisted by jinja miko , sometimes referred to as "shrine-maidens" in English. These miko are typically unmarried, although not necessarily virgins. In many cases they are
5874-407: A priest, usually colored black, red, or light blue, is the hō , or the ikan . A white silk version of the ikan , used for formal occasions, is known as the saifuku . Another priestly robe is the kariginu , which is modelled on Heian-style hunting garments. Also part of standard priestly attire is a hiōgi fan, while during rituals, priests carry a flat piece of wood known as
6052-455: A priests' quarters and a storehouse. Various kiosks often sell amulets to visitors. Since the late 1940s, shrines have had to be financially self-sufficient, relying on the donations of worshippers and visitors. These funds are used to pay the wages of the priests, to finance the upkeep of the buildings, to cover the shrine's membership fees of various regional and national Shinto groups, and to contribute to disaster relief funds. In Shinto, it
6230-532: A process known as jinja gappei , while the act of transferring the kami from one building to another is called sengu . Shrines may have legends about their foundation, which are known as en-gi . These sometimes also record miracles associated with the shrine. From the Heian period on, the en-gi were often retold on picture scrolls known as emakimono . Shrines may be cared for by priests, by local communities, or by families on whose property
6408-527: A pupil, he became the youngest member of the editorial board of its literary society. Mishima was particularly drawn to the works of Japanese poet Shizuo Itō ( 伊東静雄 ) , Haruo Satō , and Michizō Tachihara , who inspired Mishima's appreciation of classical Japanese waka poetry. Mishima's early contributions to the Gakushūin literary magazine Hojinkai-zasshi ( 輔仁会雑誌 ) included haiku and waka poetry before he turned his attention to prose. In 1941, at
6586-650: A scholar of kokugaku from the Edo period who preached Japanese traditional values and devotion to the Emperor. Hasuda had previously fought for the Imperial Japanese Army in China in 1938, and in 1943 he was recalled to active service for deployment as a first lieutenant in the Southeast Asian theater. At a farewell party thrown for Hasuda by the Bungei Bunka group, Hasuda offered the following parting words to Mishima: "I have entrusted
6764-513: A sensational obscenity trial remembered in Japan as the " Juliette Case" ( サド裁判 , Sado saiban ) , which was ongoing as Mishima wrote the play. In 1994, Madame de Sade was evaluated as the "greatest drama in the history of postwar theater" by Japanese theater criticism magazine Theater Arts ( シアター・アーツ ) . Mishima was considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968 (he and Rudyard Kipling are both
6942-800: A series of shrines and other sacred sites that are part of an established circuit, is known as a junpai . An individual leading these pilgrims, is sometimes termed a sendatsu . For many centuries, people have also visited the shrines for primarily cultural and recreational reasons, as opposed to spiritual ones. Many of the shrines are recognised as sites of historical importance and some are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Shrines such as Shimogamo Jinja and Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, Meiji Jingū in Tokyo, and Atsuta Jingū in Nagoya are among Japan's most popular tourist sites. Many shrines have
7120-523: A seventeen-year-old rightist, broke into the home of Hōji Shimanaka , the president of Chūō Kōron , killed his maid with a knife and severely wounded his wife. In the aftermath, Fukazawa went into hiding, and dozens of writers and literary critics, including Mishima, were provided with round-the-clock police protection for several months; Mishima was included because a rumor that Mishima had personally recommended The Tale of an Elegant Dream for publication became widespread, and even though he repeatedly denied
7298-484: A single entity. This approach can be helpful but begs the question of what is meant by 'Shintō' in each case, particularly since each category incorporates or has incorporated Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, folk religious and other elements. — Scholar of religion Brian Bocking Scholars of religion have debated how to classify Shinto. Inoue considered it part of "the family of East-Asian religions". The philosopher Stuart D. B. Picken suggested that Shinto be classed as
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7476-493: A small pile of salt outside before business commences each day. Fire, also, is perceived as a source of purification. The yaku-barai is a form of harae designed to prevent misfortune, while the oharae , or "ceremony of great purification", is often used for end-of-year purification rites, and is conducted twice a year at many shrines. Before the Meiji period, rites of purification were generally performed by onmyōji ,
7654-424: A source of frequent criticism, especially from those arguing that the religion can readily become a pawn for those wishing to use it to legitimise their authority and power. In Shinto, kannagara ("way of the kami ") is the law of the natural order , with wa ("benign harmony") being inherent in all things. Disrupting wa is deemed bad, contributing to it is thought good; as such, subordination of
7832-462: A specific building. Jinja is usually translated as "shrine" in English, although in earlier literature was sometimes translated as "temple", a term now more commonly reserved for Japan's Buddhist structures. There are around 100,000 public shrines in Japan; about 80,000 are affiliated with the Association of Shinto Shrines, with another 20,000 being unaffiliated. They are found all over
8010-470: A specific place, often a prominent landscape feature such as a waterfall, mountain, large rock, or distinctive tree. Physical objects or places in which the kami are believed to have a presence are termed shintai ; objects inhabited by the kami that are placed in the shrine are known as go-shintai . Objects commonly chosen for this purpose include mirrors, swords, stones, beads, and inscribed tablets. These go-shintai are concealed from
8188-602: A strong sense of hostility toward the "black ships" of Commodore Matthew C. Perry , who forcibly opened Japan up to unequal international relations at the end of the Edo period , and had destroyed the peace of Edo , where vivid chōnin culture was flourishing. Defunct Defunct Shinto Shinto ( Japanese : 神道 , romanized : Shintō ) is a religion originating in Japan . Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion , its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as
8366-458: A traditional Japanese lifestyle continued to be practiced, depicts a pure, simple love between a fisherman and a female pearl and abalone diver . Although the novel became a best-seller, leftists criticized it for "glorifying old-fashioned Japanese values", and some people began calling Mishima a "fascist". Looking back on these attacks in later years, Mishima wrote, "The ancient community ethics portrayed in this novel were attacked by progressives at
8544-490: A type of diviner whose practices derived from the Chinese yin and yang philosophy. Shinto incorporates morality tales and myths but no codified ethical doctrine, and thus no "unified, systematized code of behaviour". An ethical system nevertheless arises from its practice, with emphasis placed on sincerity ( makoto ), honesty ( tadashii ), hard work ( tsui-shin ), and thanksgiving ( kansha ) directed towards
8722-400: A unique rubber-stamp seal which visitors can get printed into their stamp book, demonstrating the different shrines they have visited. Shinto rituals begin with a process of purification, or harae . Using fresh water or salt water, this is known as misogi . At shrines, this entails sprinkling this water onto the face and hands, a procedure known as temizu , using a font known as
8900-400: A wish that he could have joined a " Special Attack " unit. He also expressed an admiration for kamikaze pilots and other "special attack" units. In a 21 April 1945 letter to a friend, Mishima wrote: It was through the kamikazes that "modern man" has finally been able to grasp the dawning of the "present day", or perhaps better said, "our historical era" in a true sense, and for the first time
9078-467: A world tour and published his travelogue as The Cup of Apollo ( アポロの杯 , Aporo no Sakazuki ) . He visited Greece during his travels, a place which had fascinated him since childhood. His visit to Greece became the basis for his 1954 novel The Sound of Waves , which drew inspiration from the Greek legend of Daphnis and Chloe . The Sound of Waves , set on the small island of " Kami-shima " where
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#17328023493479256-575: A year, that my shoulder was painfully stiff, that I spit blood, that even last night I had been soaked by a night sweat?...Why when sentenced to return home the same day had I felt the pressure of a smile come pushing so persistently at my lips that I had difficulty in concealing it? Why had I run so when I was through the barracks gate? Hadn't my hopes been blasted? What was the matter that I hadn't hung my head and trudged away with heavy feet? I realized vividly that my future life would never attain heights of glory sufficient to justify my having escaped death in
9434-490: Is "first and foremost a ritual tradition", while Picken observed that "Shinto is interested not in credenda but in agenda , not in things that should be believed but in things that should be done." The scholar of religion Clark B. Offner stated that Shinto's focus was on "maintaining communal, ceremonial traditions for the purpose of human (communal) well-being". It is often difficult to distinguish Shinto practices from Japanese customs more broadly, with Picken observing that
9612-423: Is called a hongū . In some shrines, there is a separate building in which to conduct additional ceremonies, such as weddings, known as a gishikiden , or a specific building in which the kagura dance is performed, known as the kagura-den . Collectively, the central buildings of a shrine are known as the shaden , while its precincts are known as the keidaichi or shin'en . This precinct
9790-474: Is defined as referring to " kami or matters pertaining to kami ." The term Shinto became common in the 15th century. During the late Edo period, the kokugaku scholars began using the term Shinto to describe what they believed was an ancient, enduring and indigenous Japanese tradition that predated Buddhism; they argued that Shinto should be used to distinguish kami worship from traditions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. This use of
9968-469: Is made here between singular and plural, and hence the term kami refers both to individual kami and the collective group of kami . Although lacking a direct English translation, the term kami has sometimes been rendered as "god" or "spirit". The historian of religion Joseph Kitagawa deemed these English translations "quite unsatisfactory and misleading", and various scholars urge against translating kami into English. In Japanese, it
10146-424: Is often said that there are eight million kami , a term which connotes an infinite number, and Shinto practitioners believe that they are present everywhere. They are not regarded as omnipotent , omniscient , or necessarily immortal . The term kami is "conceptually fluid", being "vague and imprecise". In Japanese it is often applied to the power of phenomena that inspire a sense of wonder and awe in
10324-509: Is often viewed as a form of purification. More broadly, torii are internationally recognised symbols of Japan. Their architectural form is distinctly Japanese, although the decision to paint most of them in vermillion reflects a Chinese influence dating from the Nara period . Also set at the entrances to many shrines are komainu , statues of lion or dog like animals perceived to scare off malevolent spirits; typically these will come as
10502-467: Is placed on specific moral codes or particular afterlife beliefs, although the dead are deemed capable of becoming kami . The religion has no single creator or specific doctrine, and instead exists in a diverse range of local and regional forms. Although historians debate at what point it is suitable to refer to Shinto as a distinct religion, kami veneration has been traced back to Japan's Yayoi period (300 BC to 300 AD). Buddhism entered Japan at
10680-677: Is present in many facets of Japanese culture, such as the focus it places on bathing. Purification is for instance regarded as important in preparation for the planting season, while performers of noh theatre undergo a purification rite before they carry out their performances. Among the things regarded as particular pollutants in Shinto are death, disease, witchcraft, the flaying alive of an animal, incest, bestiality, excrement, and blood associated with either menstruation or childbirth. To avoid kegare , priests and other practitioners may engage in abstinence and avoid various activities prior to
10858-535: Is reflected in the carryover to Japanese as well. Additionally, many Chinese syllables, especially those with an entering tone , did not fit the largely consonant-vowel (CV) phonotactics of classical Japanese. Thus most on'yomi are composed of two morae (beats), the second of which is either a lengthening of the vowel in the first mora (to ei , ō , or ū ), the vowel i , or one of the syllables ku , ki , tsu , chi , fu (historically, later merged into ō and ū ), or moraic n , chosen for their approximation to
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#173280234934711036-565: Is seen as important that the places in which kami are venerated be kept clean and not neglected. Through to the Edo period, it was common for kami shrines to be demolished and rebuilt at a nearby location in order to remove any pollutants and ensure purity. This has continued into recent times at certain sites, such as the Ise Grand Shrine, which is moved to an adjacent site every two decades. Separate shrines can also be merged in
11214-638: Is set in Japan's historical Muromachi Period and explores the motif of shudō (man-boy love) against a backdrop of the death of the ninth Ashikaga shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa in battle at the age of 25, and his father Ashikaga Yoshimasa 's resultant sadness. The story features the fictional character Kikuwaka, a beautiful teenage boy who was beloved by both Yoshihisa and Yoshimasa, who fails in an attempt to follow Yoshihisa in death by committing suicide. Thereafter, Kikuwaka devotes himself to spiritualism in an attempt to heal Yoshimasa's sadness by allowing Yoshihisa's ghost to possess his body, and eventually dies in
11392-414: Is surrounded by the tamagaki fence, with entry via a shinmon gate, which can be closed at night. Shrine entrances are marked by a two-post gateway with either one or two crossbeams atop it, known as torii . The exact details of these torii varies and there are at least twenty different styles. These are regarded as demarcating the area where the kami resides; passing under them
11570-428: Is the avoidance of kegare ("pollution" or "impurity"), while ensuring harae ("purity"). In Japanese thought, humans are seen as fundamentally pure. Kegare is therefore seen as being a temporary condition that can be corrected through achieving harae . Rites of purification are conducted so as to restore an individual to "spiritual" health and render them useful to society. This notion of purity
11748-752: Is therefore highly pluralistic . Shinto is often cited alongside Buddhism as one of Japan's two main religions, and the two often differ in focus, with Buddhism emphasising the idea of the cessation of suffering, while Shinto focuses on adapting to life's pragmatic requirements. Shinto has integrated elements from religions imported from mainland Asia, such as Buddhism, Confucianism , Taoism , and Chinese divination practices, and shares features like its polytheism with other East Asian religions . Some scholars suggest we talk about types of Shintō such as popular Shintō, folk Shintō, domestic Shintō, sectarian Shintō, imperial house Shintō, shrine Shintō, state Shintō, new Shintō religions, etc. rather than regard Shintō as
11926-731: The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki portray multiple realms in Shinto cosmology. These present a universe divided into three parts: the Plane of High Heaven ( Takama-no-hara ), where the kami live; the Phenomenal or Manifested World ( Utsushi-yo ), where humans dwell; and the Nether World ( Yomotsu-kuni ), where unclean spirits reside. The mythological texts nevertheless do not draw firm demarcations between these realms. Modern Shinto places greater emphasis on this life than on any afterlife, although it does espouse belief in
12104-440: The honden can sometimes be found a subsidiary shrine, the bekkū , to another kami ; the kami inhabiting this shrine is not necessarily perceived as being inferior to that in the honden . At some places, halls of worship have been erected, termed haiden . On a lower level can be found the hall of offerings, known as a heiden . Together, the building housing the honden , haiden , and heiden
12282-486: The kami are called norito , while the coins offered are saisen . At the shrine, individuals offering prayers are not necessarily praying to a specific kami . A worshipper may not know the name of a kami residing at the shrine nor how many kami are believed to dwell there. Unlike in certain other religions, Shinto shrines do not have weekly services that practitioners are expected to attend. Some Shinto practitioners do not offer their prayers to
12460-417: The kami directly, but rather request that a priest offer them on their behalf; these prayers are known as kitō . Many individuals approach the kami asking for pragmatic requests. Requests for rain, known as amagoi ("rain-soliciting") have been found across Japan, with Inari a popular choice for such requests. Other prayers reflect more contemporary concerns. For instance, people may ask that
12638-477: The kami religion of Japan, which lived symbiotically with organized Buddhism, and only later was institutionalized as Shinto." While several institutions and practices now associated with Shinto existed in Japan by the 8th century, various scholars have argued that Shinto as a distinct religion was essentially "invented" during the 19th century, in Japan's Meiji era . The scholar of religion Brian Bocking stressed that, especially when dealing with periods before
12816-481: The kami themselves often interpreted as Buddhas . At this point, the term Shinto increasingly referred to "the authority, power, or activity of a kami , being a kami , or, in short, the state or attributes of a kami ." It appears in this form in texts such as Nakatomi no harai kunge and Shintōshū tales. In the Japanese Portuguese Dictionary of 1603, Shinto
12994-421: The kami to gain their blessings and to dissuade them from destructive actions. Shinto seeks to cultivate and ensure a harmonious relationship between humans and the kami and thus with the natural world. More localised kami may be subject to feelings of intimacy and familiarity from members of the local community that are not directed towards more widespread kami like Amaterasu. The kami of
13172-474: The kami to offset any ill-fortune associated with being this age. Certain directions can also be seen as being inauspicious for certain people at certain times and thus people can approach the kami asking them to offset this problem if they have to travel in one of these unlucky directions. Pilgrimage has long been important in Japanese religion, with pilgrimages to Shinto shrines called junrei . A round of pilgrimages, whereby individuals visit
13350-529: The kami while priests generally offer them food, drink, and sprigs of the sacred sakaki tree. Animal sacrifices are not considered appropriate offerings, as the shedding of blood is seen as a polluting act that necessitates purification. The offerings presented are sometimes simple and sometimes more elaborate; at the Grand Shrine of Ise, for instance, 100 styles of food are laid out as offerings. The choice of offerings will often be tailored to
13528-524: The kami "), kannagara no michi ( 神ながらの道 , also written 随神の道 or 惟神の道 , "the way of the kami from time immemorial"), Kodō ( 古道 , "the ancient way"), Daidō ( 大道 , "the great way"), and Teidō ( 帝道 , "the imperial way"). The term Shinto derives from the combination of two Chinese characters: shin ( 神 ), which means "spirit" or "god", and tō ( 道 ), which means "way", "road" or "path". "Shintō" ( 神道 , "the Way of
13706-441: The kami . Shojiki is regarded as a virtue, encompassing honesty, uprightness, veracity, and frankness. Shinto sometimes includes reference to four virtues known as the akaki kiyoki kokoro or sei-mei-shin , meaning "purity and cheerfulness of heart", which are linked to the state of harae . Attitudes to sex and fertility tend to be forthright in Shinto. Shinto's flexibility regarding morality and ethics has been
13884-469: The kami . This is followed by an appearance by the miko , who commence in a slow circular motion before the main altar. Offerings are then presented to the kami by being placed on a table. This act is known as hōbei ; the offerings themselves as saimotsu or sonae-mono . Historically, the offerings given the kami included food, cloth, swords, and horses. In the contemporary period, lay worshippers usually give gifts of money to
14062-600: The daimyō of Shishido , which was a branch domain of Mito Domain in Hitachi Province ; therefore, Mishima was a descendant of the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate , Tokugawa Ieyasu , through his grandmother. Natsuko's father, Nagai Iwanojō ( 永井岩之丞 ) , had been a Supreme Court justice, and Iwanojō's adoptive father, Nagai Naoyuki , had been a bannerman of the Tokugawa House during
14240-586: The Bakumatsu . Natsuko had been raised in the household of Prince Arisugawa Taruhito , and she maintained considerable aristocratic pretensions even after marrying Sadatarō, a bureaucrat who had made his fortune in the newly opened colonial frontier in the north, and who eventually became Governor-General of Karafuto Prefecture on Sakhalin Island . Sadatarō's father, Takichi Hiraoka ( 平岡太吉 ) , and grandfather, Tazaemon Hiraoka ( 平岡太左衛門 ) , had been farmers. Natsuko
14418-593: The English borrowings from Latin, Greek, and Norman French , since Chinese-borrowed terms are often more specialized, or considered to sound more erudite or formal, than their native counterparts (occupying a higher linguistic register ). The major exception to this rule is family names , in which the native kun'yomi are usually used (though on'yomi are found in many personal names, especially men's names). Kanji invented in Japan ( kokuji ) would not normally be expected to have on'yomi , but there are exceptions, such as
14596-578: The Japan Self-Defense Forces to rise up and overthrow Japan's Article 9 of 1947 Constitution to restore autonomous national defense, and the divinity of the Emperor, after which he died by seppuku . On January 14, 1925 , Yukio Mishima ( 三島由紀夫 , Mishima Yukio ) was born Kimitake Hiraoka ( 平岡公威 , Hiraoka Kimitake ) in Nagazumi-cho, Yotsuya-ku of Tokyo City (now part of Yotsuya , Shinjuku-ku , Tokyo). His father
14774-524: The Japanese Empire in the early 20th century, Shinto was exported to other areas of East Asia. Following Japan's defeat in World War II , Shinto was formally separated from the state . Shinto is primarily found in Japan, where there are around 100,000 public shrines, although practitioners are also found abroad. Numerically, it is Japan's largest religion, the second being Buddhism. Most of
14952-526: The Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Mishima interviewed various athletes every day and wrote articles as a newspaper correspondent. He had eagerly anticipated the long-awaited return of the Olympics to Japan after the 1940 Tokyo Olympics were cancelled due to Japan's war in China. Mishima expressed his excitement in his report on the opening ceremonies: "It can be said that ever since Lafcadio Hearn called
15130-572: The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States and Japan (known as " Anpo " in Japanese) in order to cement the U.S.–Japan military alliance into place. Although he did not directly participate in the protests, he often went out in the streets to observe the protestors in action and kept extensive newspaper clippings covering the protests. In June 1960, at the climax of
15308-585: The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, devoted to Japan's war dead. In 1979 it enshrined 14 men who had been declared Class-A defendants at the 1946 Tokyo War Crimes Trials , generating domestic and international condemnation, particularly from China and Korea. Shinto priests face ethical conundrums. In the 1980s, for instance, priests at the Suwa Shrine in Nagasaki debated whether to invite the crew of
15486-421: The "worldview of Shinto" provided the "principal source of self-understanding within the Japanese way of life". Nelson stated that "Shinto-based orientations and values [...] lie at the core of Japanese culture, society, and character". Public spaces in which the kami are worshipped are often known under the generic term jinja (" kami -place"); this term applies to the location rather than to
15664-630: The Banquet , also published in 1960, which so closely followed the events surrounding politician Hachirō Arita 's campaign to become governor of Tokyo that Mishima was sued for invasion of privacy . The next year, Mishima published The Frolic of the Beasts , a parody of the classical Noh play Motomezuka , written in the 14th-century by playwright Kiyotsugu Kan'ami . In 1962, Mishima produced his most artistically avant-garde work Beautiful Star , which at times comes close to science fiction. Although
15842-589: The Gods") was a term already used in the Book of Changes referring to the divine order of nature. Around the time of the spread of Buddhism in the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), it was used to distinguish indigenous Chinese religions from the imported religion. Ge Hong used it in his Baopuzi as a synonym for Taoism . The Chinese term 神道 ( MC zyin daw ) was originally adopted into Japanese as Jindō ; this
16020-584: The Japanese "the Greeks of the Orient", the Olympics were destined to be hosted by Japan someday." Mishima hated Ryokichi Minobe , who was a socialist and the governor of Tokyo beginning in 1967. Influential persons in the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), including Takeo Fukuda and Kiichi Aichi , had been Mishima's superiors during his time at the Ministry of the Treasury , and Prime Minister Eisaku Satō came to know Mishima because his wife, Hiroko,
16198-665: The Japanese language. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times in the 1960s—including in 1968, but that year the award went to his countryman and benefactor Yasunari Kawabata . His works include the novels Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion , and the autobiographical essay Sun and Steel . Mishima's work is characterized by "its luxurious vocabulary and decadent metaphors, its fusion of traditional Japanese and modern Western literary styles, and its obsessive assertions of
16376-536: The Japanese people would lose their "national essence" ( kokutai ) and distinctive cultural heritage to become a "rootless" people. In 1968, Mishima formed the Tatenokai ("Shield Society"), a private militia, for the purpose of protecting the dignity of the Emperor as a symbol of Japan's national identity. On 25 November 1970, Mishima and four members of his militia entered a military base in central Tokyo, took its commandant hostage, and unsuccessfully tried to inspire
16554-435: The Meiji era, the term Shinto should "be approached with caution". Inoue Nobutaka stated that "Shinto cannot be considered as a single religious system that existed from the ancient to the modern period", while the historian Kuroda Toshio noted that "before modern times Shinto did not exist as an independent religion". Many scholars describe Shinto as a religion , a term first translated into Japanese as shūkyō around
16732-559: The Second World War, women were again allowed to become priests to fill the void caused by large numbers of men being enlisted in the military. By the late 1990s, around 90% of priests were male, 10% female, contributing to accusations that Shinto discriminates against women. Priests are free to marry and have children. At smaller shrines, priests often have other full-time jobs, and serve only as priests during special occasions. Before certain major festivals, priests may undergo
16910-475: The State Shinto system of the Meiji era, the emperor of Japan was declared to be a kami , while several Shinto sects have also viewed their leaders as living kami . Although some kami are venerated only in a single location, others have shrines across many areas. Hachiman for instance has around 25,000 shrines dedicated to him, while Inari has 40,000. The act of establishing a new shrine to
17088-508: The US in front of foreign friends like Scott-Stokes, until Mishima heard that the name of the inn where Scott-Stokes was staying was Kurofune ( lit. ' black ship ' ), at which point his voice suddenly became low and he said in a sullen manner, "Why? Why do you stay at a place with such a name?". Mishima liked ordinary American people after the war, and he and his wife had even visited Disneyland as newlyweds. However, he clearly retained
17266-507: The actions of a young right-wing ultranationalist Japanese army officer who commits suicide after a failed revolt against the government during the February 26 Incident . The following year, he published the first two parts of his three-part play Tenth-Day Chrysanthemum ( 十日の菊 , Tōka no kiku ) , which celebrates the actions of the 26 February revolutionaries. Mishima's newfound interest in contemporary politics shaped his novel After
17444-471: The afterlife largely revolve around the idea that the spirit survives bodily death and continues to assist the living. After 33 years, it then becomes part of the family kami . These ancestral spirits are sometimes thought to reside in the mountains, from where they descend to take part in agricultural events. Shinto's afterlife beliefs also include the obake , restless spirits who died in bad circumstances and often seek revenge. A key theme in Shinto
17622-612: The aftermath of the Shimanaka incident . In 1960, the author Shichirō Fukazawa had published the satirical short story The Tale of an Elegant Dream ( 風流夢譚 , Fūryū Mutan ) in the mainstream magazine Chūō Kōron . It contained a dream sequence (in which the Emperor and Empress are beheaded by a guillotine) that led to outrage from right-wing ultra-nationalist groups, and numerous death threats against Fukazawa, any writers believed to have been associated with him, and Chūō Kōron magazine itself. On 1 February 1961, Kazutaka Komori ,
17800-572: The age of 16, Mishima was invited to write a short story for the Hojinkai-zasshi , where he submitted Forest in Full Bloom ( 花ざかりの森 , Hanazakari no Mori ) , a story in which the narrator describes the feeling that his ancestors somehow still live on within him. The story displays several metaphors and aphorisms that would become Mishima's hallmarks. He also sent a copy of the manuscript to his teacher Fumio Shimizu ( 清水文雄 ) , who
17978-469: The architectural styles of shrines having largely developed by the Heian period . The inner sanctuary in which the kami lives is the honden . Inside the honden may be stored material belonging to the kami ; known as shinpo , this can include artworks, clothing, weapons, musical instruments, bells, and mirrors. Typically, worshippers carry out their acts outside of the honden . Near
18156-421: The army doctor misdiagnosed as tuberculosis ; Mishima was consequently declared unfit for service and sent home. Mishima would later hint in his quasi-autobiographical novel Confessions of a Mask (1949) that he might have lied to the doctor in order to secure the misdiagnosis. Mishima wrote: Why had I looked so frank as I lied to the army doctor? Why had I said that I'd been having a slight fever for over half
18334-445: The army... The veracity of this account is impossible to know for certain, but what is unquestionable is that Mishima did not speak out against the doctor's diagnosis of tuberculosis. Researchers have speculated that Mishima's guilt at allowing himself to escape death in the war left a lasting impression on his life and writing, possibly contributing to his later suicide. The day before his failed medical examination, Mishima had written
18512-473: The artistically ambitious novel Kyōko no Ie . The novel tells the interconnected stories of four young men who represented four different facets of Mishima's personality. His athletic side appears as a boxer, his artistic side as a painter, his narcissistic, performative side as an actor, and his secretive, nihilistic side as a businessman who goes through the motions of living a normal life while practicing "absolute contempt for reality". According to Mishima, he
18690-582: The author's personal creativity. In 1965, Mishima wrote the play Madame de Sade that explores the complex figure of the Marquis de Sade , traditionally upheld as an exemplar of vice, through a series of debates between six female characters, including the Marquis' wife, the Madame de Sade. At the end of the play, Mishima offers his own interpretation of what he considered to be one of the central mysteries of
18868-545: The beholder. Kitagawa referred to this as "the kami nature", stating that he thought it "somewhat analogous" to the Western ideas of the numinous and the sacred . Kami are seen to inhabit both the living and the dead, organic and inorganic matter, and natural disasters like earthquakes, droughts, and plagues; their presence is seen in natural forces such as the wind, rain, fire, and sunshine. Accordingly, Nelson commented that Shinto regards "the actual phenomena of
19046-592: The character 働 "to work", which has the kun'yomi " hatara(ku) " and the on'yomi " dō ", and 腺 "gland", which has only the on'yomi " sen "—in both cases these come from the on'yomi of the phonetic component, respectively 動 " dō " and 泉 " sen ". In Chinese, most characters are associated with a single Chinese sound, though there are distinct literary and colloquial readings . However, some homographs ( 多音字 ) such as 行 (Mandarin: háng or xíng , Japanese: an, gō, gyō ) have more than one reading in Chinese representing different meanings, which
19224-589: The claim, he received hundreds of death threats. In later years, Mishima harshly criticized Komori, arguing that those who harm women and children are neither patriots nor traditional right-wingers, and that an assassination attempt should be a one-on-one confrontation with the victim at the risk of the assassin's life. Mishima also argued that it was the custom of traditional Japanese patriots (such as Otoya Yamaguchi ) to immediately commit suicide after committing an assassination. In 1963, "The Harp of Joy Incident" ( 喜びの琴事件 , Yorokobi no Koto Jiken ) occurred within
19402-429: The construction company to employ a Shinto priest to come to the land being developed and perform the jichinsai , or earth sanctification ritual. This purifies the site and asks the kami to bless it. People often ask the kami to help offset inauspicious events that may affect them. For instance, in Japanese culture, the age 33 is seen as being unlucky for women and the age 42 for men, and thus people can ask
19580-474: The country's population takes part in both Shinto and Buddhist activities, especially festivals, reflecting a common view in Japanese culture that the beliefs and practices of different religions need not be exclusive. Aspects of Shinto have been incorporated into various Japanese new religious movements . There is no universally agreed definition of Shinto. According to Joseph Cali and John Dougill, if there
19758-445: The country, from isolated rural areas to dense metropolitan ones. More specific terms are sometimes used for certain shrines depending on their function; some of the grand shrines with imperial associations are termed jingū , those devoted to the war dead are termed shokonsha , and those linked to mountains deemed to be inhabited by kami are yama-miya . Jinja typically consist of complexes of multiple buildings, with
19936-421: The creative principle permeating all life is known as musubi , and is associated with its own kami . Within traditional Japanese thought, there is no concept of an overarching duality between good and evil. The concept of aki encompasses misfortune, unhappiness, and disaster, although it does not correspond precisely with the Western concept of evil. There is no eschatology in Shinto. Texts such as
20114-529: The dangers of the Japanese people following ideologues who told lies with honeyed words. Although Mishima criticized Kishi as a "nihilist" who had subordinated himself to the United States, Mishima concluded that he would rather vote for a strong-willed realist "with neither dreams nor despair" than a mendacious but eloquent ideologue. Shortly after the Anpo Protests ended, Mishima began writing one of his most famous short stories, Patriotism , glorifying
20292-414: The daughters of a priest or a practitioner. They are subordinate to the priests in the shrine hierarchy. Their most important role is in the kagura dance, known as otome-mai . Miko receive only a small salary but gain respect from members of the local community and learn skills such as cooking, calligraphy, painting, and etiquette which can benefit them when later searching for employment or
20470-409: The de Sade story—the Madame de Sade's unstinting support for her husband while he was in prison and her sudden decision to renounce him upon his release. Mishima's play was inspired in part by his friend Tatsuhiko Shibusawa 's 1960 Japanese translation of the Marquis de Sade's novel Juliette and a 1964 biography Shibusawa wrote of de Sade. Shibusawa's sexually explicit translation became the focus of
20648-460: The destruction of the war. He wrote in his diary, "Only by preserving Japanese irrationality will we be able contribute to world culture 100 years from now. Four days after Japan's surrender, Mishima's mentor Zenmei Hasuda, who had been drafted and deployed to the Malay peninsula, shot and killed his superior officer, who blamed Japan's defeat on the Emperor. Hasuda had long suspected the officer to be
20826-407: The early 20th century the government proclaimed that their accounts were factual. The Kojiki recounts that the universe started with ame-tsuchi , the separation of light and pure elements ( ame , "heaven") from heavy elements ( tsuchi , "earth"). Three kami then appeared: Amenominakanushi , Takamimusuhi no Mikoto , and Kamimusuhi no Mikoto . Other kami followed, including
21004-448: The editorial meeting, which was held in Izu, Shizuoka . The name "Yukio" came from yuki ( 雪 ), the Japanese word for "snow", because of the snow they saw on Mount Fuji as the train passed. The story was later published as a limited book edition (4,000 copies) in 1944 due to a wartime paper shortage. Mishima had it published as a keepsake to remember him by, as he assumed that he would die in
21182-531: The end of the Kofun period (300 to 538 AD) and spread rapidly. Religious syncretization made kami worship and Buddhism functionally inseparable, a process called shinbutsu-shūgō . The kami came to be viewed as part of Buddhist cosmology and were increasingly depicted anthropomorphically . The earliest written tradition regarding kami worship was recorded in the 8th-century Kojiki and Nihon Shoki . In ensuing centuries, shinbutsu-shūgō
21360-470: The end of the war, were branded "war criminal literary figures". In response, many prominent literary figures became leftists, joined the Communist Party as a reaction against wartime militarism, and began writing socialist realist literature that might support the cause of socialist revolution. These newly converted leftists held great influence in the Japanese literary world immediately following
21538-413: The end of the war, which Mishima found difficult to accept, and he denounced them as "opportunists" in letters to friends. Although Mishima was just 20 years old at this time, he worried that his type of literature, based on the 1930s Japanese Romantic School ( 日本浪曼派 , Nihon Rōman Ha ) , had already become obsolete. Mishima had heard that famed writer Yasunari Kawabata had praised his work before
21716-729: The end of the war. Uncertain of who else to turn to, Mishima took the manuscripts for The Middle Ages ( 中世 , Chūsei ) and The Cigarette ( 煙草 , Tabako ) with him, visited Kawabata in Kamakura , and asked for his advice and assistance in January 1946. Kawabata was impressed, and in June 1946, following Kawabata's recommendation, The Cigarette was published in the new literary magazine Humanity ( 人間 , Ningen ) , followed by The Middle Ages in December 1946. The Middle Ages
21894-426: The final consonants of Middle Chinese. It may be that palatalized consonants before vowels other than i developed in Japanese as a result of Chinese borrowings, as they are virtually unknown in words of native Japanese origin, but are common in Chinese. Generally, on'yomi are classified into four types according to their region and time of origin: The most common form of readings is the kan-on one, and use of
22072-505: The first time with a boy two years his junior. In 1946, Mishima began his first novel, Thieves ( 盗賊 , Tōzoku ) , a story about two young members of the aristocracy drawn towards suicide. It was published in 1948, and placed Mishima in the ranks of the Second Generation of Postwar Writers . The following year, he published Confessions of a Mask , a semi-autobiographical account of a young homosexual man who hides behind
22250-453: The future of Japan to you." According to Mishima, these words were deeply meaningful to him, and had a profound effect on the future course of his life. Later in 1941, Mishima wrote an essay about his deep devotion to Shintō , titled The Way of the Gods ( 惟神之道 , Kannagara no michi ) . Mishima's story The Cigarette ( 煙草 , Tabako ) , published in 1946, describes a homosexual love he felt at school and being teased from members of
22428-576: The graduation ceremony, with Mishima later receiving a silver watch from the Emperor at the Imperial Household Ministry. On 27 April 1944, during the final years of World War II, Mishima received a draft notice for the Imperial Japanese Army , barely passing his conscription examination on 16 May 1944 with a less desirable rating of "second class" conscript. Scholars have argued that Mishima's failure to receive
22606-554: The idea that Shinto's origins were prehistoric and that it represented something like the "underlying will of Japanese culture". The prominent Shinto theologian Sokyo Ono, for instance, said kami worship was "an expression" of the Japanese "native racial faith which arose in the mystic days of remote antiquity" and that it was "as indigenous as the people that brought the Japanese nation into existence". Many scholars regard this classification as inaccurate. Earhart noted that Shinto, in having absorbed much Chinese and Buddhist influence,
22784-496: The imaginativeness of Shigeru Mizuki 's GeGeGe no Kitarō . Mishima especially loved reading the boxing manga Ashita no Joe in Weekly Shōnen Magazine every week. Ultraman and Godzilla were his favorite kaiju fantasies, and he once compared himself to "Godzilla's egg" in 1955. On the other hand, he disliked story manga with humanist or cosmopolitan themes, such as Osamu Tezuka 's Phoenix . Mishima
22962-491: The individual to the larger social unit has long been a characteristic of the religion. Throughout Japanese history, the notion of saisei-itchi , or the union of religious authority and political authority, has long been prominent. In the modern world, Shinto has tended toward conservatism, as well as nationalism, an association that results in various Japanese civil liberties groups and neighboring countries regarding Shinto suspiciously. Particularly controversial has been
23140-555: The intellectual class, which until now had been the illegitimate child of modernity, became the legitimate heir of history. I believe that all of this is thanks to the kamikazes. This is the reason why the entire cultural class of Japan, and all people of culture around the world, should kneel before the kamikazes and offer up prayers of gratitude. Mishima was deeply affected by Emperor Hirohito's radio broadcast announcing Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945, vowing to protect Japanese cultural traditions and help rebuild Japanese culture after
23318-412: The late 1960s, Mishima was the first celebrity to be described as a "superstar" ( sūpāsutā ) by the Japanese media. In 1955, Mishima took up weight training to overcome his weak constitution, and his strictly observed workout regimen of three sessions per week was not disrupted for the final 15 years of his life. In his 1968 essay Sun and Steel , Mishima deplored the emphasis given by intellectuals to
23496-612: The living, meaning that they must be pacified, usually through Buddhist rites but sometimes through enshrining them as a kami . Other Japanese supernatural figures include the tanuki , animal-like creatures who can take human form. Although the narratives differ in detail, the origin of the kami and of Japan itself are recounted in two 8th-century texts, Kojiki and Nihon Shoki . Drawing heavily on Chinese influence, these texts were commissioned by ruling elites to legitimize and consolidate their rule. Although never of great importance to Japanese religious life, in
23674-531: The mind over the body. He later became very skilled ( 5th Dan ) at kendo (traditional Japanese swordsmanship), and became 2nd Dan in battōjutsu , and 1st Dan in karate . In 1956, he tried boxing for a short period of time. In the same year, he developed an interest in UFOs and became a member of the "Japan Flying Saucer Research Association" ( 日本空飛ぶ円盤研究会 , Nihon soratobu enban kenkyukai ) . In 1954, he fell in love with Sadako Toyoda ( 豊田貞子 ) , who became
23852-555: The model for main characters in The Sunken Waterfall ( 沈める滝 , Shizumeru taki ) and The Seven Bridges ( 橋づくし , Hashi zukushi ) . Mishima hoped to marry her, but they broke up in 1957. After briefly considering marriage with Michiko Shōda , who later married Crown Prince Akihito and became Empress Michiko, Mishima married Yōko ( 瑤子 , née Sugiyama) , the daughter of Japanese-style painter Yasushi Sugiyama on 1 June 1958. The couple had two children:
24030-416: The mythological tale in which Izanagi immersed himself in the sea to purify himself after discovering his deceased wife; it was from this act that other kami sprang from his body. An alternative is immersion beneath a waterfall. Salt is often regarded as a purifying substance; some Shinto practitioners will for instance sprinkle salt on themselves after a funeral, while those running restaurants may put
24208-407: The native kun'yomi pronunciation is used for singular, simpler words. On'yomi primarily occur in multi-kanji compound words ( 熟語 , jukugo ) , many of which are the result of the adoption, along with the kanji themselves, of Chinese words for concepts that either did not exist in Japanese or could not be articulated as elegantly using native words. This borrowing process is often compared to
24386-557: The novel received mixed reviews from the literary world, prominent critic Takeo Okuno ( 奥野健男 ) singled it out for praise as part of a new breed of novels that was overthrowing longstanding literary conventions in the tumultuous aftermath of the Anpo Protests. Alongside Kōbō Abe 's Woman of the Dunes , published that same year, Okuno considered A Beautiful Star an "epoch-making work" which broke free of literary taboos and preexisting notions of what literature should be in order to explore
24564-583: The past, there was also a " State Shinto ", in which Shinto beliefs and practices were closely interlinked with the Japanese state. In representing "a portmanteau term" for many varied traditions across Japan, the term "Shinto" is similar to the term " Hinduism ", used to describe varied traditions across South Asia. The term Shinto is often translated into English as "the way of the kami ", although its meaning has varied throughout Japanese history. Other terms are sometimes used synonymously with "Shinto"; these include kami no michi ( 神の道 , "the way of
24742-406: The priest approaches the kami so as to purify their car in the hope that this will prevent it from being involved in an accident; the kotsu anzen harai ("purification for road safety"). Similarly, transport companies often request purification rites for new buses or airplanes which are about to go into service. Before a building is constructed, it is common for either private individuals or
24920-606: The protest movement, Mishima wrote a commentary in the Mainichi Shinbun newspaper, entitled "A Political Opinion". In the critical essay, he argued that leftist groups such as the Zengakuren student federation, the Socialist Party , and the Communist Party were falsely wrapping themselves in the banner of "defending democracy" and using the protest movement to further their own ends. Mishima warned against
25098-537: The publisher for copyright violation over the use of Mishima's letters. Publisher Bungeishunjū had argued that the contents of the letters were "practical correspondence" rather than copyrighted works. However, the ruling for the plaintiffs declared, "In addition to clerical content, these letters describe the Mishima's own feelings, his aspirations, and his views on life, in different words from those in his literary works." In February 1961, Mishima became embroiled in
25276-452: The purification is carried out with an o-nusa , a branch of evergreen to which strips of paper have been attached. The waving of the haraigushi is often followed by an additional act of purification, the shubatsu , in which the priest sprinkles water, salt, or brine over those assembled from a wooden box called the 'en-to-oke or magemono . The acts of purification accomplished, petitions known as norito are spoken to
25454-522: The ranks over the course of their careers. The number of priests at a particular shrine can vary; some shrines can have dozens, and others have none, instead being administered by local lay volunteers. Some priests administer to multiple small shrines, sometimes over ten. Priestly regalia is largely based on the clothes worn at the imperial court during the Heian period. It includes a tall, rounded hat known as an eboshi , and black lacquered wooden clogs known as asagutsu . The outer garment worn by
25632-542: The school's rugby union club because he belonged to the literary society. Another story from 1954, The Boy Who Wrote Poetry ( 詩を書く少年 , Shi o kaku shōnen ) , was similarly based on Mishima's memories of his time at Gakushūin Junior High School. On 9 September 1944, Mishima graduated Gakushūin High School at the top of the class, becoming a graduate representative. Emperor Hirohito was present at
25810-824: The short story "A Story at the Cape" ( 岬にての物語 , Misaki nite no Monogatari ) and continued to work on it throughout World War II. After the war, the story was praised by poet Shizuo Itō ( 伊東静雄 ) , whom Mishima respected. After Japan's defeat in World War II, the country was occupied by the U.S.-led Allied Powers . At the urging of the occupation authorities, many people who held important posts in various fields were purged from public office . The media and publishing industry were also censored, and were not allowed to engage in forms of expression reminiscent of wartime Japanese nationalism. In addition, literary figures, including many of those who had been close to Mishima before
25988-613: The shrine is found. Shinto priests are known in Japanese as kannushi , meaning "proprietor of kami ", or alternatively as shinshoku or shinkan . Many kannushi take on the role in a line of hereditary succession traced down specific families. In contemporary Japan, there are two main training universities for those wishing to become kannushi , at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo and at Kogakkan University in Mie Prefecture . Priests can rise through
26166-701: The specific kami and occasion. On-yomi On'yomi ( 音読み , [oɰ̃jomi] , lit. "sound(-based) reading") , or the Sino-Japanese reading, is the reading of a kanji based on the historical Chinese pronunciation of the character. A single kanji might have multiple on'yomi pronunciations, reflecting the Chinese pronunciations of different periods or regions. On'yomi pronunciations are generally classified into go-on , kan-on , tō-on and kan'yō-on , roughly based on when they were borrowed from China. Generally, on'yomi pronunciations are used for technical, compound words, while
26344-540: The specific kami enshrined at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony between humans and kami and to solicit the latter's blessing. Other common rituals include the kagura dances, rites of passage , and kami festivals. Public shrines facilitate forms of divination and supply religious objects, such as amulets , to the religion's adherents. Shinto places a major conceptual focus on ensuring purity, largely by cleaning practices such as ritual washing and bathing, especially before worship. Little emphasis
26522-404: The term Shinto became increasingly popular from the 18th century. The term Shinto has been commonly used only since the early 20th century, when it superseded the term taikyō ('great religion') as the name for the Japanese state religion. Shinto is polytheistic , involving the veneration of many deities known as kami , or sometimes as jingi (神祇). In Japanese, no distinction
26700-451: The theatrical troupe Bungakuza , to which Mishima belonged. He wrote a play titled The Harp of Joy ( 喜びの琴 , Yorokobi no koto ) , but star actress Haruko Sugimura and other Communist Party -affiliated actors refused to perform because the protagonist held anti-communist views and mentioned criticism about a conspiracy of world communism in his lines. As a result of this ideological conflict, Mishima quit Bungakuza and later formed
26878-410: The third Governor-General of Karafuto Prefecture , and Natsuko (family register name: Natsu) ( 平岡なつ ) . Mishima received his birth name Kimitake (公威, also read Kōi in on-yomi ) in honor of Furuichi Kōi who was a benefactor of Sadatarō. He had a younger sister, Mitsuko ( 平岡美津子 ) , who died of typhus in 1945 at the age of 17, and a younger brother, Chiyuki ( 平岡千之 ) . Mishima's childhood home
27056-859: The time of the Meiji Restoration . Some practitioners instead view Shinto as a "way", thus characterising it more as custom or tradition , partly as an attempt to circumvent the modern separation of religion and state and restore Shinto's historical links with the Japanese state. Moreover, many of the categories of religion and religiosity defined in Western culture "do not readily apply" to Shinto. Unlike religions familiar in Western countries, such as Christianity and Islam , Shinto has no single founder, nor any single canonical text. Western religions tend to stress exclusivity, but in Japan, it has long been considered acceptable to practice different religious traditions simultaneously. Japanese religion
27234-569: The time, but no matter how much the Japanese people changed, these ancient ethics lurk in the bottom of their hearts. We have gradually seen this proven to be the case." Mishima made use of contemporary events in many of his works. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion , published in 1956, is a fictionalization of the burning down of the Kinkaku-ji Buddhist temple in Kyoto in 1950 by a mentally disturbed monk. In 1959, Mishima published
27412-481: The troupe Neo Littérature Théâtre ( 劇団NLT , Gekidan NLT ) with playwrights and actors who had quit Bungakuza along with him, including Seiichi Yashio ( 矢代静一 ) , Takeo Matsuura ( 松浦竹夫 ) , and Nobuo Nakamura . When Neo Littérature Théâtre experienced a schism in 1968, Mishima formed another troupe, the Roman Theatre ( 浪曼劇場 , Rōman Gekijō ) , and worked with Matsuura and Nakamura again. During
27590-538: The unity of beauty, eroticism and death", according to author Andrew Rankin. Mishima's political activities made him a controversial figure to the present day. From his mid-30 onwards, Mishima's far-right ideology and reactionary beliefs became increasingly evident. He extolled the traditional culture and spirit of Japan, and opposed what he saw as western-style materialism , along with Japan's postwar democracy ( 戦後民主主義 , sengo minshushugi ) , globalism , and communism , worrying that by embracing these ideas
27768-484: The view of visitors, and may be hidden inside boxes so that even the priests do not know what they look like. Kami are deemed capable of both benevolent and destructive deeds; if warnings about good conduct are ignored, the kami can mete out punishment, often illness or sudden death, called shinbatsu . Some kami , referred to as the magatsuhi-no-kami or araburu kami , are regarded as malevolent and destructive. Offerings and prayers are given to
27946-421: The war. In the editorial notes of Bungei Bunka magazine in 1941, when this debut work was serialized, Hasuda praised Mishima's genius: "This youthful author is a heaven-sent child of eternal Japanese history. He is much younger than we are, but has arrived on the scene already quite mature." Hasuda, who became something of a mentor to Mishima, was an ardent nationalist and a fan of Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801),
28124-461: The world itself" as being "divine". This perspective has been characterised as being animistic . In Japan, kami have been venerated since prehistory. During the Yayoi period they were regarded as being formless and invisible, later coming to be depicted anthropomorphically under Buddhist influence. Now, statues of the kami are known as shinzo . Kami are usually associated with
28302-515: The youngest nominees in history), and was a favorite of many foreign publications. However, in 1968 his early mentor Kawabata won the Nobel Prize and Mishima realized that the chances of it being given to another Japanese author in the near future were slim. In a work published in 1970, Mishima wrote that the writers he paid most attention to in modern western literature were Georges Bataille , Pierre Klossowski , and Witold Gombrowicz . Mishima
28480-447: Was "not a unified, monolithic entity that has a single center and system all its own". Different types of Shinto have been identified. "Shrine Shinto" refers to the practices centred around shrines, and "Domestic Shinto" to the ways in which kami are venerated in the home. Some scholars have used the term "Folk Shinto" to designate localised Shinto practices, or practices outside of an institutionalised setting. In various eras of
28658-445: Was "often used" in "reference to kami worship and related theologies, rituals and practices". Various scholars have referred to practitioners of Shinto as Shintoists , although this term has no direct translation in the Japanese language . Scholars have debated at what point in history it is legitimate to start talking about Shinto as a specific phenomenon. The scholar of religion Ninian Smart suggested that one could "speak of
28836-408: Was "one single, broad definition of Shinto" that could be put forward, it would be that "Shinto is a belief in kami ", the supernatural entities at the centre of the religion. The Japanologist Helen Hardacre wrote that "Shinto encompasses doctrines, institutions, ritual, and communal life based on kami worship", while the scholar of religion Inoue Nobutaka observed that the term "Shinto"
29014-400: Was "too complex to be labelled simply [as an] indigenous religion". In the early 21st century it became increasingly common for practitioners to call Shinto a nature religion , which critics saw as a strategy to disassociate the tradition from controversial issues surrounding militarism and imperialism. Shinto displays substantial local variation; the anthropologist John K. Nelson noted it
29192-699: Was Azusa Hiraoka ( 平岡梓 ) , a government official in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce , his mother, Shizue ( 平岡倭文重 ) , was the daughter of the 5th principal of the Kaisei Academy . Shizue's father, Kenzō Hashi ( 橋健三 ) , was a scholar of the Chinese classics , and the Hashi family had served the Maeda clan for generations in Kaga Domain . Mishima's paternal grandparents were Sadatarō Hiraoka ,
29370-528: Was a fan of Mishima's work. Based on these connections LDP officials solicited Mishima to run for the LDP as governor of Tokyo against Minobe, but Mishima had no intention of becoming a politician. Mishima was fond of manga and gekiga , especially the drawing style of Hiroshi Hirata , a mangaka best known for his samurai gekiga; the slapstick, absurdist comedy in Fujio Akatsuka 's Mōretsu Atarō ; and
29548-659: Was a fan of science fiction, contending that "science fiction will be the first literature to completely overcome modern humanism". He praised Arthur C. Clarke 's Childhood's End in particular. While acknowledging "inexpressible unpleasant and uncomfortable feelings after reading it," he declared, "I'm not afraid to call it a masterpiece." Mishima traveled to Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula with his wife and children every summer from 1964 onwards. In Shimoda, Mishima often enjoyed eating local seafood with his friend Henry Scott-Stokes . Mishima never showed any hostility towards
29726-433: Was a rented house, though a fairly large two-floor house that was the largest in the neighborhood. He lived with his parents, siblings and paternal grandparents, as well as six maids, a houseboy, and a manservant. Mishima's early childhood was dominated by the presence of his grandmother, Natsuko, who took the boy and separated him from his immediate family for several years. She was the granddaughter of Matsudaira Yoritaka ,
29904-461: Was adopted by Japan's Imperial household. During the Meiji era (1868 to 1912), Japan's nationalist leadership expelled Buddhist influence from kami worship and formed State Shinto , which some historians regard as the origin of Shinto as a distinct religion. Shrines came under growing government influence, and citizens were encouraged to worship the emperor as a kami . With the formation of
30082-651: Was also an actor, and starred in Yasuzo Masumura 's 1960 film, Afraid to Die , for which he also sang the theme song (lyrics by himself; music by Shichirō Fukazawa ). He performed in films like Patriotism or the Rite of Love and Death directed by himself, 1966, Black Lizard directed by Kinji Fukasaku , 1968 and Hitokiri directed by Hideo Gosha , 1969. Maki Isaka has discussed how his knowledge of performance and theatrical forms influenced short stories including Onnagata ( 女方 , Onnagata ) . Mishima
30260-533: Was always the first to read a new story. When Mishima was 13, Natsuko took him to see his first Kabuki play: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers , an allegory of the story of the 47 Rōnin . He was later taken to his first Noh play ( Miwa , a story featuring Amano-Iwato ) by his maternal grandmother Tomi Hashi ( 橋トミ ) . From these early experiences, Mishima became addicted to Kabuki and Noh. He began attending performances every month and grew deeply interested in these traditional Japanese dramatic art forms. Mishima
30438-399: Was attempting to describe the time around 1955 in the novel, when Japan was entering into its era of high economic growth and the phrase "The postwar is over" was prevalent. Mishima explained, " Kyōko no Ie is, so to speak, my research into the nihilism within me." Although the novel was well received by a small number of critics from the same generation as Mishima and sold 150,000 copies in
30616-722: Was enrolled at the age of six in the elite Gakushūin , the Peers' School in Tokyo, which had been established in the Meiji period to educate the Imperial family and the descendants of the old feudal nobility. Mishima began to write his first stories aged 12, taking inspiration from myths ( Kojiki , Greek mythology , etc.) and the works of numerous classic Japanese authors, as well as Raymond Radiguet , Jean Cocteau , Oscar Wilde , Rainer Maria Rilke , Thomas Mann , Friedrich Nietzsche , Charles Baudelaire , l'Isle-Adam , and other European authors. He also studied German . After six years as
30794-412: Was enshrined as the kami Hachiman , believed to be a protector of Japan and a kami of war. In Japanese culture, ancestors can be viewed as a form of kami . In Western Japan, the term jigami is used to describe the enshrined kami of a village founder. In some cases, living human beings were also viewed as kami ; these were called akitsumi kami or arahito-gami . In
30972-566: Was featured as the photo model in photographer Eikoh Hosoe 's book Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses ( 薔薇刑 , Bara-kei ) , as well as in Tamotsu Yatō 's photobooks Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan ( 体道～日本のボディビルダーたち , Taidō: Nihon no bodybuilder tachi ) and Otoko: Photo Studies of the Young Japanese Male ( 男 , Otoko ) . American author Donald Richie gave an eyewitness account of seeing Mishima, dressed in
31150-418: Was possibly first used as a Buddhist term to refer to non-Buddhist deities. Among the earliest known appearances of the term Shinto in Japan is in the 8th-century text, Nihon Shoki . Here, it may be a generic term for popular belief, or alternatively reference Taoism, as many Taoist practices had recently been imported from mainland Asia. In these early Japanese uses, the word Shinto did not apply to
31328-444: Was prone to violent outbursts, occasionally alluded to in Mishima's works, to which some biographers have traced Mishima's fascination with death. She did not allow Mishima to venture into the sunlight, engage in any kind of sport, or play with other boys. He spent much of his time either alone or with female cousins and their dolls. Mishima's father, Azusa, had a taste for military discipline, and worried Natsuko's style of childrearing
31506-428: Was so impressed that he and his fellow editorial board members decided to publish it in their literary magazine Bungei Bunka ( 文藝文化 ) . In order to protect him from potential backlash from Azusa, Shimizu and the other editorial board members coined the pen-name Yukio Mishima. They took "Mishima" from Mishima Station , which Shimizu and fellow Bungei Bunka board member Hasuda Zenmei passed through on their way to
31684-480: Was too soft. When Mishima was returned to his immediate family at the age of 12, Azusa employed extreme parenting tactics, such as holding young Mishima up close to the side of a speeding steam locomotive. He also raided his son's room for evidence of an "effeminate" interest in literature, and often ripped his son's manuscripts apart. Although Azusa forbade him from writing any further stories, Mishima continued to write in secret, supported and protected by his mother, who
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